Title: One for the Money
Series: Hughes #1
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher: Dangerous Press
Genre: Billionaire Romance
Release Date: May 31, 2022
BLURB
Finn Hughes knows about secrets. His family is as wealthy as the Rockefellers. And as powerful as the Kennedys. He runs the billion-dollar corporation. No one knows that he has a ticking time clock on his ability to lead.
Eva Morelli is the oldest daughter. The responsible one. The caring one. The one who doesn't have time for her own interests.
Especially not her interest in the charismatic, mysterious Finn Hughes.
A fake relationship is the answer to both their problems.
It will keep the swarming society mothers from throwing their daughters at him.
And it will keep Eva's mother from bothering her about marriage.
Then the fake relationship starts to feel real.
But there's no chance for them. No hope for a woman who's had her heart broken. And no future for a man whose fate was decided long ago.
"As soon as I heard Skye Warren wrote a fake dating book, I dropped everything and savored it cover to cover. Finn Hughes is a cinnamon roll hero." - #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey
PURCHASE LINKS
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
AUTHOR BIO
Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.
AUTHOR LINKS
0 Comments
Title: Lone Star Boss
Series: Saddle Creek, TX: The Crawfords #3
Author: Kat Baxter
Genre: Contemporary TX Western Romantic Comedy
Release Date: May 30, 2022
BLURB
An Age-Gap/Forced Proximity Curvy Girl Romance
Quinn
The minute I see Amber fending off handsy customers at the small-town diner, I know she needs protection. So I do the only logical thing, I bring her home to be my live-in housekeeper and cook. She’s too young and innocent for me, but every day is a battle not to claim her. I know this much, if I can’t keep my hands to myself, I either have to marry her or send her far away.
Amber
I’m used to being on my own. I’ve been alone in the world since I was fourteen. I like my independence, and I don’t need anyone tell me what to do. I don’t care how hot they look in a pair of cowboy boots. Except when it comes to Quinn Crawford. There is something in that bossy tone of his that makes my body—and my heart—crave him.
***
Welcome to Saddle Creek, TX. Cattle ranches scattered amidst the rugged hills; the land dotted with wildflowers, cacti and longhorns. Small town, but home to the big Crawford family. These cowboys and mountain men have been busy working their land and haven’t had time for romantic complications. But when the terms of a will mandates they all find brides or risk losing their family’s land? It’ll be a race to the altar as each of them is determined to do their part to save their slice of heaven. But none of them expects that finding a bride will also mean finding love.
PURCHASE LINKS
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE
COMING SOON
Releasing July 14
AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Bestselling Author Kat Baxter writes fast-paced, sweet & STEAMY romantic comedies. Readers have dubbed her books “laugh-out-loud funny,” “hot enough to melt your kindle,” and “The Queen of Adorkable.” She lives in Texas with her family and a menagerie of animals. Kat is the pseudonym for a bestselling historical romance author.
Connect with Kat online.
AUTHOR LINKS
Title: Good Vibrations
Series: The Brodie Brothers #3
Author: Kayley Loring
Genre: Steamy Romantic Comedy
Release Date: May 26, 2022
BLURB
A former model, a grumpy lawyer, and a single dad walk into an audition for a children's musical⦠Theyâre all Miles Brodie. Itâs only cute if you arenât the director whoâs being bribed to cast his daughter.
DEAR MS. CROSS,
Re: Our discussion
1. True. Casting my daughter as the lead in your musical could be considered bribery if people find out Iâm investing in it, but no one needs to know.
2. I only want to hire you as Macyâs singing coach so her vocal skills will improve.
3. Maybe if youâd spent less time surfing and more on your singing career, you wouldnât be in this financial predicament.
4. Re. your living situationâmy neighbor has a guest house. If you cast Macy as Alice, I will pay for your first three monthsâ rent.
Do we have a deal?
Best regards,
Miles Brodie
DEAR MR. BRODIE,
1. It absolutely is bribery, but I absolutely need that money for my production. Thanks!
2. It is very cute that you will do anything to get Macy this part, but I would only coach that sweet child as a favor to all mammals with functional hearing.
3. If I spend less time surfing, will you spend less time jogging on my beach with your shirt off?
4. You want to pay me to live next door so you donât have to drive anywhere to frown at me?
5. I have another condition for casting Macy as Aliceâyou have to perform the part of the Cheshire Cat.
Purrrrrrr,
Aria
PURCHASE LINKS
99c for a limited time!
Free in Kindle Unlimited
AUDIO COMING SOON
Whispersynced & releasing May 27
Narrated by Jason Clarke and Mackenzie Cartwright. Featuring Teddy Hamilton, Zachary Webber, Emma Wilder, Connor Crais and Emily Woo Zeller
READ THE SERIES FOR
FREE IN KU
FUNNY BUSINESS
ATTACHMENT THEORY
AUTHOR BIO
Before writing steamy romantic comedy novels, Kayley Loring got a BFA in creative writing from a Canadian university and had a fifteen-year career as a screenwriter in Los Angeles (under a different name). She mostly wrote PG-13 family comedies that studios would pay her lots of money for and then never make into movies. In 2017 she decided to move to the Pacific Northwest and write about all the fun stuff that she wasn't allowed to write about in those PG-13 scripts. Now sheâs breathing cleaner air and writing dirtier words. Itâs an adjustment sheâs happily getting used to.
AUTHOR LINKS
Title: My Darling Neighbor
Series: Feel the Beat #3
Author: Swati M.H.
Genre: Enemies-to-Lovers Romance
Release Date: May 26, 2022
BLURB
I’m pregnant with my neighbor’s baby, but here’s the kicker . . . we can’t stand each other.
It all started when my bathroom sprang a leak, and I booked short-term lodging in his vacant apartment.
Turns out, it wasn’t available . . . or vacant.
One big misunderstanding later, and he’s practically throwing me out like yesterday’s trash.
He might think his half-ass apology, devilish smirk, and alluring hazel eyes will get him back in my good graces, but he’d be sorely mistaken. Because I, Sita Stewart, am allured by no man! Not even if he comes in the sexiest, most deliciously infuriating, six-foot-two package with a checkered bow tie.
But when the tension between us threatens to cause a category five hurricane, I decide to put it to bed once and for all. Literally, figuratively, metaphorically . . . you get the picture.
And when the storm finally settles, I’m left with a case of morning sickness and a craving for more.
More of him.
Because underneath all the layers of grouchiness is a broken man I fear I’m falling for. A man who says he wants me and our little bean sprout, too.
But right when Mr. P. Cooke gives me a glimpse of the life I’ve always wanted, his past comes tearing in like a tornado, ready to cause devastation.
The question is, can we survive it?
PURCHASE LINKS
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Free in Kindle Unlimited
AUTHOR BIO
I prefer to call myself a storyteller rather than an author. I'm a mom to two beautiful little girls and a wife to an incredibly supportive husband. My days start with caffeine and sometimes end with a glass (or three) of wine.
I'm a Texas raised Indian American currently living in the Bay Area. With a degree in Computer Science and an MBA, I've had a successful career building software products but writing is both my hobby and my passion.
For me, writing and reading are an escape from real life. I love meeting and creating characters who I'd love to take out for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. My goal as a storyteller is to distract my readers from their daily grind with stories about everyday couples finding and fighting for incredible love with the help of a little luck.
AUTHOR LINKS
Title: Deadly Games
Author: Faith Summers
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Release Date: May 27, 2022
BLURB
We were supposed to be two passing ships on an unforgettable night…
I accepted a foolish dare that changed everything-
pretend you’re someone you aren’t until sunrise.
I chose to be normal and free.
Not bound by the duties my father forced on me.
The sinfully gorgeous god-like man staring at me in the club with the I’m-going-to-devour-you smile was who I picked to be normal and free with.
It didn’t matter that he looked like the kind of villain I should run from.
Mercilessly, he claimed my virtue.
And something I never knew existed until him.
That was supposed to be it.
One night. One time. One fantasy.
At sunrise, we’d go our separate ways.
Except, I never knew my one-night stand would turn out to be my father’s new bodyguard.
Or… that he isn’t who he says he is.
Not only does Lukiyan Romanechka have dark secrets and a separate agenda that’s about to fuel a war, but there’s also something else he wants.
Me…
Like Hades he wants to steal me away from the light and take me to his dark world.
And I just might let him.
Deadly Games is a dark mafia romance inspired by Hades & Persephone's story. It contains dubious situations, mature content, and graphic violence some readers might find offensive and/or triggering.
This is a complete STANDALONE.
AUTHOR BIO
Faith Summers is the Dark Contemporary Romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author, Khardine Gray.
Warning!! Expect wild romance stories of the scorching hot variety and deliciously dark romance with the kind of alpha male bad boys best reserved for your fantasies.
Dive in and enjoy her naughty page-turners.
AUTHOR LINKS TEASER REVEAL! Filthy King by Serena Akeroyd releases June 2!
It’s the dawn of a new era and there is a new King in Manhattan. Pre-order now ➩ https://amzn.to/3DZLi31 Goodreads link ➩ https://bit.ly/3H68jDy Influencers, sign up to review ➩ https://bit.ly/3EpjdlL I'm nothing like my father. My brothers don't realize I'm a thousand times worse. Grief fuels my every action. Vengeance burns through my veins, dictating every decision I make. I'll shatter allegiances to avenge him. I'm nothing like my father. You don't realize that I'm a thousand times worse. I have Savannah at my side. A ruthless partner who will rain hellfire upon our enemies with me. Until she realizes I lied to her... My house of cards is tumbling down, but I underestimated my Queen. FILTHY KING is the seventh book in the Five Points' Mob Collection, and can be read as a standalone. AVAILABLE NOW IN THE SERIES US: https://amzn.to/3yuNv5v UK: https://amzn.to/3IXx5am CA: https://amzn.to/3F9JLJi AU: https://amzn.to/3GLzT8M All free in Kindle Unlimited NOW LIVE + GIVEAWAY! Marked by Him by SR Jones is available now + FREE in Kindle Unlimited!5/27/2022 NOW LIVE + GIVEAWAY! Marked by Him by SR Jones is available now + FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
“An action packed, thrilling and amazing read” – Goodreads reviewer “This book is a gritty, dark, fast paced story and incredibly sexy… FREAKIN FANTASTIC!!!!!” – Goodreads reviewer “This is an intense and darkly passionate tale… One that is sure to captivate and titillate and leave you thoroughly enthralled.” – Goodreads reviewer US: https://amzn.to/3wdM3Vp UK: https://amzn.to/3wwyDTl CA: https://amzn.to/3l8nH9s AU: https://amzn.to/39jY5Um Add to your Goodreads TBR ➩ https://bit.ly/3wNaEPZ Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card ➩ https://bit.ly/3PEgADE His ink on my skin. His ring on my finger. His protection for life. My heart as payment. Nikolai: She came to my territory to spy on me. No one does that and lives. But this girl, she’s a rare beauty, beyond any I’ve seen. I want her under me, not under the ground. She’s a temptation I have to conquer, and so I make her an offer. My insignia inked on her skin. My ring on her finger. My protection for life. It starts out as a game but becomes an obsession so fierce it might burn the world down. Trouble is, I can’t tell who is winning. The stakes have never been higher, and we’re both playing for keeps. Sienna: As a low-level street informant, I thought I’d finally gotten out and could resume my life, but I was mistaken. My handler had one last job for me. He wanted me to spy on Nikolai Volkov; Slovakian arms dealer and all-round a very bad person. The first day of working at his mysterious Club V, I knew I was in over my head. Powerful, beautiful, and full of charismatic energy, he enticed me … and terrified me. So here I am. A girl out of her depth, being dragged under by the kind of man she most certainly shouldn’t be messing with. He says he will protect me, so long as I wear his mark and become his. At first, I try to tell myself I can play his twisted games, but as time goes on, he takes over my body, my heart, and now he wants my very soul. Nikolai Volkov is either going to be my downfall, or my savior, and I don’t know which. NB: This can be read entirely as a standalone novel. It is a dark romance. For a list of what that entails, please visit my website. COMING SOON IN THE CLUB V SERIES #2 Given to Him – Releasing July 22 US: https://amzn.to/3lccIM5 UK: https://amzn.to/3FKLSEr CA: https://amzn.to/3La6h6Z AU: https://amzn.to/3FL0gfP
Title: Marked by Him
Series: Club V #1
Author: SR Jones
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Release Date: May 26, 2022
BLURB
His ink on my skin. His ring on my finger. His protection for life. My heart as payment.
Nikolai:
She came to my territory to spy on me. No one does that and lives. But this girl, she’s a rare beauty, beyond any I’ve seen.
I want her under me, not under the ground.
She’s a temptation I have to conquer, and so I make her an offer.
My insignia inked on her skin. My ring on her finger. My protection for life.
It starts out as a game but becomes an obsession so fierce it might burn the world down.
Trouble is, I can’t tell who is winning.
The stakes have never been higher, and we’re both playing for keeps.
Sienna:
As a low-level street informant, I thought I’d finally gotten out and could resume my life, but I was mistaken.
My handler had one last job for me.
He wanted me to spy on Nikolai Volkov; Slovakian arms dealer and all-round a very bad person.
The first day of working at his mysterious Club V, I knew I was in over my head.
Powerful, beautiful, and full of charismatic energy, he enticed me … and terrified me.
So here I am. A girl out of her depth, being dragged under by the kind of man she most certainly shouldn’t be messing with.
He says he will protect me, so long as I wear his mark and become his.
At first, I try to tell myself I can play his twisted games, but as time goes on, he takes over my body, my heart, and now he wants my very soul.
Nikolai Volkov is either going to be my downfall, or my savior, and I don’t know which.
NB: This can be read entirely as a standalone novel. It is a dark romance. For a list of what that entails, please visit my website.
PURCHASE LINKS
Free in Kindle Unlimited
COMING SOON
Releasing July 22
AUTHOR BIO
Hi guys. I’m Skye, a paranormal and contemporary romance author from rainy Northern England. I write Paranormal romance as Skye Jones, and steamy dark romance as S.R. Jones.
The one thing my books in both genres have in common are gritty themes, and alpha heroes who are damaged but oh-so-redeemable!
When I’m not writing, I’m either walking my dogs, drinking coffee, or watching my fave TV shows such as The Sopranos, McMafia, and Little House on the Prairie, yep I have eclectic taste!
AUTHOR LINKS
GIVEAWAY
Title: Possessive Wolf
Series: Cedar Creek Shifters #3
Author: Nikki Landis
Genre: Paranormal/Shifter Romance
Release Date: May 27, 2022
BLURB
An arrogant alpha.
A pack torn apart by lies.
A wolf possessed with finding his mate.
Rinnick is always in control.
He’s the alpha responsible for the safety and well-being of every shifter in his clan.
He’s stern, unapologetic, and brash at times, but it’s the only way to protect his pack from the dangers of the outside world.
No one questioned his orders until he met Savannah.
She’s opinionated, feisty, and so beautiful he stares after her like a lovesick pup.
Their chemistry is nearly combustible until the anti-shifter organization begins hunting down the clan.
Savannah isn’t letting the males fight this war alone, but she doesn’t realize how determined the Society is to bring down all shifters.
Rinnick’s wolf becomes possessive, determined to hunt her down when she disappears before he loses someone else he loves.
Will the alpha claim his mate, defeat the Society, and protect Cedar Creek before it’s too late?
*Third in the Cedar Creek Shifters series. Each book features hunky alpha wolf shifters who fiercely protect their mates.
PURCHASE LINKS
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
ALSO AVAILABLE
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
COMING SOON
Releasing January 27
AUTHOR BIO
Nikki Landis is the USA Today & International Bestselling, Multi-Award-Winning Author of over 50 romance novels in the MC, reverse harem, paranormal, dystopian, and science fiction genres. Her books feature deadly reapers, dark alpha heroes, protective shifters, and seductive vampires along with the feisty, independent women they love. There's heart-throbbing action on every page as well as fated mates and soul bonds deep enough to fulfill every desire.
AUTHOR LINKS
Title: Hush Baby Hush
Series: Daddy Loves You #3
Author: Margot Scott
Genre: Contemporary Age Gap Romance
Release Date: May 26, 2022
BLURB
Hush, little baby. Daddy’s here...
I could tell McKenzie Sommers was a fighter from the moment we met. Two broken ribs, countless bruises, her bare feet scraped to hell. She’d stared Death in the face and lived to describe him to a sketch artist.
Now that the danger has passed, she’s straining to pick up the pieces. But some terrors linger in the wake of the threat. They take up residence inside you like bad houseguests—a feeling I know all too well as a US Army Vet.
The monsters under McKenzie’s bed tell her she’s tainted, spoiled, broken. But broken never bothered me. I didn’t buy a fixer-upper so I could pay someone else to repair it. With me, she can shatter into a thousand glittering pieces.
Don’t be afraid to fall apart, baby girl. Trust Daddy to put you together again.
Author’s Note: The third book in the Daddy Loves You Series contains spoilers for previous books in the series, and is best enjoyed after reading Stay Baby Stay.
CONTENT WARNING: This title contains sensitive themes and tropes, including Daddy Dom/baby girl kink within a 20-year age-gap relationship, in addition to discussions of violence, PTSD, and sexual assault. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
PURCHASE LINKS
Free in Kindle Unlimited
EXCERPT
Prologue
Austin
There’s a girl in my bed.
I haven’t had a woman in my bed, asleep or otherwise, in a good long while. But this girl—McKenzie—isn’t here because she wants to be. She’s here because she’s been through hell, and I couldn’t stand the thought of her laying her head anywhere but my pillow.
As for me, I’ll be perfectly content on the couch downstairs. I had hoped to slip into the ensuite bath with clean towels before she went down for the night, but the day’s stresses got the jump on my plans to be a good host.
Standing in the doorway, I watch her chest rise and fall with her breathing. I could leave the towels out here in the hallway, but the path to the bathroom is short and clear. I served four tours in Afghanistan, two in Special Ops; I can sneak a stack of towels past a little girl without waking her up.
I tread lightly into the bedroom, avoiding floorboards I know to be vocal. I watch for movement on the bed and see only stillness. I make it into the bathroom without incident, closing the door before switching on the light. Aside from the spare toothbrush I left out for McKenzie, there isn’t anything in here to indicate that I’ve yielded my space to a woman.
The way her best friend, Holly, tells it, McKenzie had nothing but the clothes on her back when they found her at the abandoned mall. While I’m sure Holly’s more than happy to let her friend use whatever items she packed for herself, I make a mental note to ask the girls for a shopping list in case they end up having to stay a while. As far as I’m concerned, they’re welcome to stay as long as it takes for the police to find the motherfucker who’s hunting them.
The reminder that the girl in my bed was nearly murdered by a serial killer crystallizes my anger like ice. I feel it scrape against my insides like an itch I can’t scratch.
When I saw McKenzie for the first time, she was wrapped in a light-blue blanket on my buddy Jonah’s couch. My gut clenched as I took in her ashen face and tangled blonde hair. She wore the same hollow look I’d seen on the shell-shocked faces of soldiers and fellow vets. She’d been through the ringer, and to an untrained eye, she might’ve appeared defeated.
But when I honed in on her sea-green gaze I recognized a warrior’s resolve. This scrappy little girl, half my age, had stared Death in the face and lived to describe him to a sketch artist.
I couldn’t help but be impressed.
I hang two clean towels on the rack in my bathroom and grab the used ones to throw in the wash. Switching off the light, I ease the door back slowly--
And lock eyes with a wide awake and upright McKenzie.
“Sorry.” I tip my mouth apologetically, stepping fully into the room. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She rubs her red-rimmed eyes. “I wasn’t sleeping. I can’t sleep without my meds.”
I spy the orange pill bottle on the bedside table, next to an empty glass. I toss the damp towels on the floor and pick up the glass, pretending not to notice the way she tenses at my approach. I’ve caught bits and pieces of McKenzie’s story over the last few days, starting with the detail about her and Holly living in a motel. Thanks to last night’s very friendly and perfectly legal conversation with Russell King at his house, I know all about the sex parties, as well as the killer targeting the girls who attend said sex parties. Thanks to McKenzie, the cops now have a description of the guy.
But that knowledge came at a price.
I fill the glass with water at the bathroom sink and then bring it back out to her. She accepts the glass with a mumbled thanks and pops one of her pills. I wait to make sure everything goes down smoothly, watching the purple bruises on her neck shift as she swallows.
Fury rises inside me. The thought of anyone putting their hands on McKenzie triggers an involuntary primal response. I don’t realize I’m glaring at her throat until she reaches up to cover the bruises.
“Does it look that bad?” she asks.
I blink to reset my features. No point in drawing attention to wounds she’s already well aware of.
“I’ll let you get to sleep,” I mumble, gathering up the damp towels.
“Wait, Austin,” she says, pauses. “I really appreciate you letting Holly and me stay here. But you didn’t have to give me your room.”
My gaze lingers on the folded hem of her pajama pants—on loan from Holly, I assume, who’s a few inches taller. I shrug. I’m no stranger to putting my life on the line to protect the nameless and faceless. Offering McKenzie my bedroom was a no-brainer.
“It’s just a bed.”
“Well, a bed’s a lot more than I had for a long time. At least this time I didn’t have to...” She bites her lips together, trapping whatever words she was about to say behind her teeth.
“Didn’t have to…what?”
She gestures to the walls. “I like your house. It reminds me of my grandpa’s old homestead. I lived there for a while when I was little.”
“Where was that?”
“North Carolina.”
“Does he still live there?”
She shakes her head. “He’s dead now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He had fruit trees, too. Apples, cherries, peaches. His vegetable garden was massive.” Her lips slant into a near-smile. “How long have you lived in this house?”
“About six months. I’ve been slowly fixing it up on weekends. Can’t say I’ve given the garden the attention it deserves.”
“It shows.”
I chuckle, not the least bit put off by her teasing. This little girl can crack jokes at my garden’s expense until sunup if it makes her smile.
There I go again, referring to McKenzie as a little girl. Last night, at the hospital, she told the intake nurse she was eighteen. She looks eighteen, but there are moments when the girl she used to be shines through, like at the crime scene this afternoon.
My buddy, Cal Larkin, the lead detective on her case, didn’t want the girls at the scene, but McKenzie was determined to be there for the search. I’ve served with grown men who don’t possess half the fortitude this girl carries in her five-foot-three-inch frame. After everything she endured at the hands of a sadistic killer, she wanted to help bring him down.
Needless to say, I was moved.
“You did good today,” I tell her. “Really good.”
“I guess, if crying like a baby in the mud counts as really good.” She runs her finger around the rim of the glass. “Not sure what difference it’ll make in the end.”
When we arrived on the scene, I told the girls to wait by my truck until the cops called for us. But McKenzie didn’t listen. She took off toward the smoking rubble, prompting Holly and me to chase her up the hill.
The only proof of McKenzie’s story, besides the physical evidence gathered at the hospital, had gone up in smoke. It all proved too much for her to take in. She fell to her hands and knees in the mud and wailed.
I came fucking close to gathering her in my arms and taking her straight home. But touching her in that moment, when I’d never touched her before, felt like a step too far. So I knelt in the mud beside her and tried to drum up words of comfort, things you’d say to a child who’d just awoken from a nightmare.
But McKenzie’s nightmare isn’t the kind you wake from. It’s the kind you battle through, and she fought hard to recall the last place she remembered holding her necklace, and the path she took through the woods.
“You were able to prove you were telling the truth,” I say. “You found evidence placing yourself somewhere you had no business being. It corroborates your story.”
She sets the glass on the nightstand and then rests her head on the pillow.
“Why do I feel like I’m going to be telling this story for the rest of my life?” She stares at the ceiling, and I grab this fleeting chance to study her while she’s unaware of my scrutiny. She’s a marvel, this girl. As iron-willed as she is beautiful—and she is beautiful.
Rein it the fuck in, Pope.
I command my gaze to find somewhere to linger that isn’t attached to the girl in my bed. The last thing McKenzie needs is a man’s unwelcome attention when she’s raw, vulnerable, and most importantly, currently seeking shelter in his home. She doesn’t owe me anything for my hospitality.
But someday she won’t be so tender. Someday, when she’s ready...
Forget it. That line of thinking can only lead to one place: nowhere. Her situation is fucked up enough as it is. No need to complicate it further, even if she does look like she belongs in my sheets.
“I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”
She rises onto her elbows. “Could you, um, stay a minute? Just until I fall asleep.”
Bad idea. I glance at the towels in my hand.
She continues, “It’s just that... I’ll fall asleep faster if I think you’re keeping watch.”
“I am keeping watch.”
Fuck it. I take a seat on the edge of the bed, as far away from her as I can sit without my ass hitting the floor. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, McKenzie.”
“Thanks.” She smiles sadly, like she doesn’t believe me, then lays back down. I wonder how many people in her life have made promises they later reneged on. Any more than zero is too damn many. I make a silent promise, right here and now, to protect McKenzie with everything I’ve got.
True to her word, she falls asleep within minutes.
Downstairs, in the dark, I bring the damp towels to my nose. Beneath the clean scent of soap, I pick out McKenzie’s natural fragrance, holding a trace of her essence inside me since I can’t hold onto her.
Before I settle down on the couch, I load a round into the chamber on my Glock, then set the gun within reach on the coffee table.
I pray the cops catch the psychopath who murdered those girls, I do. But fuck if I don’t want to be the one to put him down. After the way he terrorized McKenzie, and the things he planned to do... I crack my knuckles to keep my hands nimble and loose.
Let the bastard try to take her from this house.
He’ll have to go through me first.
ALSO AVAILABLE
Free in Kindle Unlimited
AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Bestselling Author Margot Scott likes short, sexy reads, rainbow sprinkles on vanilla ice cream, and rainy days spent in bed with her furbabies. When she’s not writing forbidden-love stories about bearded older men, you can find her browsing Pinterest for pictures of pink things.
AUTHOR LINKS
|
Reviews
Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
|